Hello Lixxx!!!! I am glad you have decided to join my mentoring program! I know you explained one of your goals in PM but I still would like you to answer more questions before we will start! Here they are! -What is your weakness?-What is your strongest point?-Your favorite guitar players?I am looking forward to work with you! And very excited to guide you through!!!!

Hello Lixxx!!!! I am glad you have decided to join my mentoring program! I know you explained one of your goals in PM but I still would like you to answer more questions before we will start! Here they are! -What is your weakness?-What is your strongest point?-Your favorite guitar players?I am looking forward to work with you! And very excited to guide you through!!!!

Hey Alex thx for taking care of me xD.First of I need to clarify that Im right-handed sorry for the confusion there.

Allright as I said my weakness is definitely coordination between hands. I also seem to rush things when in fact I might not be rdy to go on ( For instance when training with a metronome I tend to go up quite fast not noticing any mistakes I might have made on slower tempos. In general my one big weakness is my dedication to achive a certain level of mastering this Instrument. Its the only thing I kept doing over the years and I hated myself for not being more disciplined when i started playing. I sometimes tend to push myself into frustration to the point where I dont like to play anymore. That is somehow a strong point too because I am generally motivated to push my limits.

For my goals:

I want to be able to grasp my fretboard and to play musically and free on the guitar.Id like to be able to play at decent speed and Improvise over a variety of musical styles I want to learn about Songwriting and chord changes especially in regard to the modes. I know quite a few but I dont know how to make a mode specific song.

My favorite Guitarists and Musicians are:

ACDC for being an amazing Rockband with very impressive rhythm playing.Steve Vai for beeing just insanely versed on the guitar. I dont necessarily like all his music but he still is a master.BB King well I started with Blues and played to his Songs a lot.Almost everything from 80s Hairmetal its just such a powerful music and I love the style and feel of it very much ( The band Im forming will be a Glam Rock / Hair Metal band ).

Its something I recorded on a JM4 2 or 3 years ago. It has some serious timing flaws and I completely forgot how to play it xD. Just so you get an Impression of my playing. I have a video of me doing canon rock as well but I dont have a youtube account yet.

Hi! Good job on the recording!!! I like your sound and cool ideas with the volume control! Sounded pretty tasty and nice! So to start we need to sync your hands together! Most likely it's you right hand that has a problem and you need to start practicing exercises to get your hands synced together! I came with a few! Here they are! The idea is to practice them very slowly using a metronome You also need to hear the guitar pro file because there are some rhythm shifts! Those exercises will help you develop your technique, timing and will get your hands synced very very fast!

once again I dont want to make the Impression of rushing it. Just so you can analyze my playing. Once I have all the ex done I will connect them and bring them up to speed again. I usually go up the tempo in 5 bpm steps.

I tried to get to 180 but I was not able to distinct the triplet accents properly.

regards Jan

Good job! you are a very fast learner! A few things! First track sounded perfect really tight and timing was great! Second track you started to rush a little bit when switching to triplets Third you were rushing triplets and picking except the second part you did good on this one! The whole idea of those exercises is to practice them really slow that is the way to connect your hands together it's more mechanical exercise and you don't need to play it at 200BPM Slower you do it better results you will get! Just add it to your daily routine and you will see some progress in a week!

Ok I have made a very slow recording of ex. no. 4.That is quite a challenge, but I see now what you meant with doing it slowly. When I played it fast it was hard to see if one hand was faster than the other. ;D okies

I played ex. 5 to the guitar pro file at 25 bpm and tried to record it..... ITS HAAAARD xD

Anyway I tried to get the timing most accurate by fingering them just as they where supposed to be played. That way I managed to get a feel for the timing in my fretting hand aswel. However, it is insanely hard recording it because of the long pauses between the clicks.Even when playing 8th on 50bpm it was hard to concentrate after a while.

Ok I think I call it a day for now Ive been playing since I got up this morning and I cant focus anymore.

I played ex. 5 to the guitar pro file at 25 bpm and tried to record it..... ITS HAAAARD xD

Anyway I tried to get the timing most accurate by fingering them just as they where supposed to be played. That way I managed to get a feel for the timing in my fretting hand aswel. However, it is insanely hard recording it because of the long pauses between the clicks.Even when playing 8th on 50bpm it was hard to concentrate after a while.

Ok I think I call it a day for now Ive been playing since I got up this morning and I cant focus anymore.

cheers Lixxx

Slower you do it harder it will get! The whole idea is to get you to really feel the groove and open up your inner timing! Everybody has a groove inside! You are walking, breathing, talking, blinking etc. with your own rhythm! No one has it but you! We just need to open it up and get it connected to your hands! I would suggest to practice it at 50BPM and really focus on what you are doing! You will see a huge progress very quick!!!

Ok I have made a very slow recording of ex. no. 4.That is quite a challenge, but I see now what you meant with doing it slowly. When I played it fast it was hard to see if one hand was faster than the other. ;D okies

I was wondering if maybe we could come up with a daily routine for me. One of my main problems always has been, that I have so much that I want to do that I loose focus and just practice anything.

I am right now practicing the patterns for hands sync. Since I want to be able to create and play free over a variety of styles I really need to learn scales and their corresponding chords. As I said I dont quite get how to play over songs that escape from just playing ionian or the aeolian mode ( or simply pentatonic).I have some basic skills in sweeping and tapping ( I even started to explore 8.Finger tapping xD) but I feel that my lack of understanding of harmony and theory is limiting me. I realize what to practice, but I tend to practice too much issues at once. I realy could use help in coming up with a plan.

In general I have about 4-8 hours to practice since I work very few hours so I have more time for guitar. I cant say that I have time to practice EVERY day because I have to work shifts and night sometimes, but I am quite disciplined.

Im currently saving for a recording device ( br-800 because it has customizable drums.... I cant play without drums ) and once I get it I want to really start composing and recording. I think that playing music shows quick results because your problems become more apparent.

Ok thats that, Im really glad to have the opertunity to have you as a mentor because I feel you take real interest in you students.

Cheers Lixxx

PS: I will definitely do some of your lessons the latest is just so groovy so look forward to a take once I can record over mp3 tracks.

Great! I am glad you like my latest lesson! So let's see say you have 6 hours to practice1) 15 minutes warm up (You should do it every time!) 2) 45 minutes technique. You have to choose your priority technique say alternative picking and practice only that3) 1 hour 30 minutes I would spend one hour practicing new lesson 4) 1 hour learning something new you want to do that every day 5) 30 minutes transcribing you can choose any song or any melody to transcribe6) 1 hour Theory you can read books or do some easy tasks but try to learn theory little by little! 7) 1 hour technique you already know try to repeat and play through techniques you already know so you keep muscle memory

Great! I am glad you like my latest lesson! So let's see say you have 6 hours to practice1) 15 minutes warm up (You should do it every time!) 2) 45 minutes technique. You have to choose your priority technique say alternative picking and practice only that3) 1 hour 30 minutes I would spend one hour practicing new lesson 4) 1 hour learning something new you want to do that every day 5) 30 minutes transcribing you can choose any song or any melody to transcribe6) 1 hour Theory you can read books or do some easy tasks but try to learn theory little by little! 7) 1 hour technique you already know try to repeat and play through techniques you already know so you keep muscle memory

This is just basic idea! Let me know what you think!

That sounds great, now I just need to fill that with some specific tasks.

1. Warm up I have covered so thats done !2. Is this the place where I should do the synchronization licks??3. Ok so here is where I practice the Nuno Bettencourt lesson ??? Or is this where I repeat old lessons I learned aswell ?4. Here I learn a new lesson or technique ?? so I pick something from GMC to do ?5. Wow this I have never done, so I could definitely use some tips here but I see its essential for being able to compose.6. With this one I would really appreciate a little direction, like a rough plan to work on so I dont miss anything.7. Can you give me an example on the difference between this and 4. ???

That sounds great, now I just need to fill that with some specific tasks.

1. Warm up I have covered so thats done !2. Is this the place where I should do the synchronization licks??3. Ok so here is where I practice the Nuno Bettencourt lesson ??? Or is this where I repeat old lessons I learned aswell ?4. Here I learn a new lesson or technique ?? so I pick something from GMC to do ?5. Wow this I have never done, so I could definitely use some tips here but I see its essential for being able to compose.6. With this one I would really appreciate a little direction, like a rough plan to work on so I dont miss anything.7. Can you give me an example on the difference between this and 4. ???

Where would I practice the scales/chords???

This seems perfect!! Im really excited. Thank you

Cheers Lixxx

2. You can practice any mechanic stuff you want I would organize it this way so it's not too boringDay 1 All Scales and modes Legato (In every key)Day 2 Hands Synchronization lessonDay 3 All Arpeggios in every key (5-6 strings) Day 4 All Pentatonics scales in every key (2 and 3 note per string) Alternative picking3. You can spend 30 minutes repeating what you have learned and for another hour learn a new lesson4. Anything you want even if it's a short lick you still learned it and it counts! You can pick something from GMC and start learning it little by little 5. For transcribing you can join my Transcribing corner and I will guide you through! http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_fo...showtopic=430426. Ok so about the Theory I will start giving you some material to analyze and study! 7. The difference is that you repeat techniques you are already know Legato, Arpeggio, Alternative picking etc. say in one key just play through once all the positions and boxes I hope that helps let me know what do you think!

I will start working on it as soon as easter is over ( I need to work a lot during the next days and wont be able to play six hours) Ok if I have more questions I will let you know and thank you very much for helping me out with the theory.

I think I will document a practice session so you can see what I have done. And see if I really got it .

Cheers Lixxx

PS: 3notes/string penta ??? So just playing like A C D ( nice stretch) and then skipping a string ( because of the double note).

I will start working on it as soon as easter is over ( I need to work a lot during the next days and wont be able to play six hours) Ok if I have more questions I will let you know and thank you very much for helping me out with the theory.

I think I will document a practice session so you can see what I have done. And see if I really got it .

Cheers Lixxx

PS: 3notes/string penta ??? So just playing like A C D ( nice stretch) and then skipping a string ( because of the double note).

No 3 notes per string is the same notes but in a shape 3 notes per string you don't have to skip strings just go to the next one

Ok heres the guitar pro file from the etude I told you about ( xD ) Tell me what you think. Its pretty basic stuff with an neo classical feel in the second part ( well a harmonic minor ) but as I said its supposed to be for practice purposes like alternate picking, sweeping, bit of string skipping, and some economy picking in the last part of the intro sweep ( I really like that extended sweep I never thought about it before but It sounds kinda cool)

The tempo in the tab is not my actual playing tempo but it sound really cool and Its definitely my goal xD.